An End to All His Madness
by FortunesArkHero
Summary: "Th-Thor?" "I am sorry, Loki. I am so sorry."


**An Avengers AU of Loki and Thor fighting on top of Stark Tower. You will cry. I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I'm sorry.**

**Warning: Major Character Death.**

Loki stood at the top of Stark Tower, looking down at his glorious accomplishment: The destruction of Manhattan. And it wouldn't end there. Oh, no. He was going to conquer the entire planet, become its king. He had served Thanos well. At least he made someone proud. The Chitauri were killing for him, causing mayhem with every shriek they made. This was what he wanted, what he _deserved_. Loki deserved it all. He grinned, baring his teeth as he watched the city burn beneath him. He spread his arms, almost as if to embrace the chaos.

"Loki!"

Loki turned to his left and saw Thor, Mjolnir secured tightly in his hand. "Turn off the Tesseract of I will destroy it!" Loki sneered and narrowed his eyes dangerously on to his brother. He pointed the scepter at Thor. "You can't! There's no stopping it. There is only the war!" Thor raised the hammer slightly in defense. He didn't want this, but Loki had to be stopped. "So be it!" He knew that this was going to end in a fight between them. The chaos, the madness, had to stop. Loki had to be stopped. Loki jumped at Thor, scepter in hand, and ready to fight.

Thor's hammer was matching to Loki's scepter. He narrowly avoided being missed when his brother shot him with a blast of energy from his weapon. Thor didn't want to hurt him, he didn't want to kill him. But Loki was different. He had a blood-thirsty look in his blue eyes. Wait…blue? Loki didn't have blue eyes. Loki had green eyes. Emerald green eyes. Why were they blue? So blue…like the Tesseract! Like the jewel embedded in the scepter he wielded. He knew it. The Tesseract, whoever gave him that much power, had been controlling him. His brother was still in there, somewhere. He just had to bring him out. "I do not wish to fight you, brother. I know that the Tesseract is messing with your mind."

Loki maniacally chuckled, aiming the tip of the scepter at Thor's heart. "You think that I am merely a puppet dancing to a master's command!? You are truly mistaken, Thor. The Tesseract is giving me power, not controlling me! I am the wielder, not the other way around!" Another jab with the scepter caused Thor to stumble back, but he was not hit. Their fight continued. After a set of punches, something shifted in the air. The whirring of helicopter blades. Loki glanced momentarily to see the helicopter piloted by that Romanov woman and the Hawk. The agents fired at him, but it proved useless. Loki shot out a beam from the scepter and the two had to fly away to land the copter. _Good riddance,_ he thought.

Thor tackled Loki as the latter watched the copter fly off. The scepter and Mjolnir were knocked from their hands. Thor struck his brother in the face and abdomen repeatedly, hoping to submit his brother into defeat. Both men were growing tired, blocking or throwing the punches. Loki pushed Thor back and grabbed his scepter; Thor was able to grab Mjolnir. Before anything could happen, Thor pinned Loki to the wall. Now was his only chance to reach for the brother he knew was still buried beneath all the hate and rage that had consumed him. Loki struggled to get free from the crushing weight of Mjolnir and Thor. Loki got free, but Thor pushed him back against the wall. This time, harder.

"Look at this!" Thor bellowed, desperately. "Look around you!"

Loki sporadically looked at the chaos below him. The buildings set ablaze, the death that filled the air. "You think this madness will end with your rule!?" Loki's gazed flickered back between the destroyed city and his brother. Thor never took his eyes off Loki. His brother had earned some scratches near the corner of his left eye, but his eyes were still Tesseract blue. Loki's breathing became quick with panic and doubt. Had this all been for nothing? "It's too late…" he said, dejectedly. "It's too late to stop it." Thor shook his head and smiled as Loki looked at him.

"No. We can…together."

Loki grinned. "No, Thor. Your pathetic world will fall. I told you that it was too late." _No. He is beyond reason, but he is still my brother._ Loki was gone from him. He thought that what he told the Avengers about Loki were just words, not truth. _This has to stop,_ he thought, desperately. He still kept Loki pinned to the wall, as his left hand went to grab an item from his belt. "Loki, please! I am begging. There's still time. You can make all of this right." Loki sneered at his brother, but said nothing. Thor had gotten his answer.

"But this madness has to end."

Thor plunged the hidden dagger into Loki's stomach.

Loki gasped as the cold Asgardian steel pierced and dug into his flesh. Loki looked into Thor's eyes. The younger god felt patches of blood, _his _blood, drop to the ground. "Th-Thor?" Loki choked out, painfully. Tears pricked both of their eyes. "I'm sorry, Loki. I'm so sorry." A tear fell down the trickster's face. Slowly, the Tesseract lost its hold over Loki's mind and his eyes reverted back to their normal emerald green. Thor's icy blue orbs got wide with disbelief. Loki, his Loki, was coming back.

"No, no, no, no. Loki, no."

Loki dropped the scepter and crumpled into his brother's arms. Thor took off his brother's helmet, tossed it to the side, and stroked Loki's hair gently. It always calmed him down throughout their childhood. "Oh. Brother, I'm so sorry." Loki's breathing was labored and laced with fear. "I'm so sorry, Loki. Your madness had to be stopped." Loki shook, _shivered_, in his brother's embrace. "I know," he gasped, weakly. "I know." He grimaced as a wave of pain overtook his frail body. "I was…never going to…to be free…of the Tesseract," he stammered before swallowing, thickly. "You're free of it, now." Thor meant to go for the dagger protruding from Loki's stomach, but the trickster's cold, nimble fingers grabbed his wrist.

"Don't. I'll heal…and the Tesseract…will take me back."

Tears fell from Thor's eyes as Loki held on to his hand, an anchor to tell his rapidly growing foggy brain that he was still there. He let out small groans of pain as his armor shimmered away, leaving him just as Thor saw him on that mountain for the first time in a year. "I do remember, Thor. All the times we played together. The battles…we fought together. Mother's lessons." Loki's lip quivered as he thought of his mother. She cared about him, he missed her. He often dreamt about her visiting him. "Tell her I'm sorry. And that I love her." Thor nodded as Loki continued to shake and grow colder. The city still burned around them, but at that moment, Thor didn't care.

"I am sorry, Loki," he spoke, softly. "I am your big brother and I failed to see that you were hurting. I failed to protect you." Loki shook his head gently and he smiled. Not a trickster's smile or one hell-bent on revenge or world domination, but that of a boy admiring his big brother. "You did all that you could, Thor. Thank you." Loki coughed violently, arching and hissing in pain. Thor, thankfully, was able to calm him. "I've been a terrible brother to you, Thor. Everything I've done to you…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Forgive me, please," he breathed, painfully. Thor nodded, fiercely. More hot tears stung his eyes. "I do. I forgive you." Loki smiled again, his eyes began to close against their will. "You'll stay with me, right? You'll take me home?" Thor nodded again, as he pulled Loki closer to him. Loki heard his brother's heartbeat. So calming. "Of course, brother."

"Did you doubt that I loved you even through all this?" Loki asked, like a scared child.

Thor felt Loki trying to grip his hand harder as the rest of his body became slack. He was getting scared. "Never. Did you ever doubt that I loved you?" Thor looked into Loki's pain glazed, half-lidded eyes. "No," he barely whispered. "I never did. I always knew …and felt the same." Loki shuddered, briefly, and then…he stilled. His eyes, those piercing emerald green orbs, were deprived of the playfully mischievous innocence they once held. Thor let out a whimper of shock. "Loki?" He shook his brother gently, but nothing happened. "No more tricks. No more illusions, Loki. Please." The raven-haired man didn't stir, his chest did not move. And that's when he knew that it wasn't a trick. This was real.

Loki was gone.

Thor cried as he lowered his face to Loki's and pressed his lips to his brother's forehead. "Oh, Loki. Forgive me. You shouldn't have died like this, not by my hand. I failed you. I'm so sorry." Thor clutched Loki even closer to his chest, anything to keep his little brother close to him. All this to end his madness, to end the suffering and the war on Earth. Loki's madness had ended, and so did his life by his brother's hand. Thor howled an anguished cry of pain, the world grew silent around him. His cries echoed into the sky, the thunder clasped over the two brothers.

Loki's madness ended, but Thor's had just begun. And Loki was not there to calm him.

The brothers were broken.

**I am sorry if you cried, but this had to be written. As always, please read, review, and follow, and favorite. It is greatly appreciated.**

**Am I a horrible person?**


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